Delegation of Fiscal Authority

An individual with Delegation of Fiscal Authority has been designated to review and approve transactions and authorize the expenditure of monies. This delegation is tied to an individual’s role and responsibilities within the organization.

Individuals with this designation are expected to:

• Understand the nature or purpose of the expense/purchase and ensure supporting documentation is complete.
• Verify that the expense/purchase is utilizing the correct funding source (i.e., campus chartfields)
• Ensure that adequate funds are available to cover the expense/purchase and, if a multi-year commitment, that budget plans are fiscally sound and sustainable.
• Ensure that the funding source is appropriate for the expense/purchase and complies with any applicable spending requirements for the student fee revenue.

The Chancellor’s Office (CO) formed the Financial Business Rules Committee (FBRC) to identify a baseline delegation of authority structure for the CSU. This committee was composed of campus and CO representatives who were charged with developing this standard for approval of financial transactions. Further information about this collaborative effort is available on the CSYou Delegation of Authority webpage.

The following structure was approved by our campus cabinet in May 2023. It will act as the basis for assignment of fiscal authority for departments and related financial systems/transactions.

Note: Employees will be assigned levels based on role and then given authority at deptid/fund level by request. If no designation occur at the chartfield level then no actual delegation of fiscal authority has occurred for related systems/processes. 

(*) To allow flexiblity for division structures that do not have AVP respresentation. 

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• What are the Responsibilities of a Delegated Approver?
  • Your role should not be taken lightly
  • It requires that you have or obtain specific knowledge 
  • It is required to maintain compliance with CSU policies and procedures and act as good stewards of our financial resources
  • It is a structural component of our financial systems and processes
  • It should be used to determine whether expenditures support the University’s mission and are within your budget authority
• What types of transactions fall under the Delegation of Fiscal Authority?
  • Purchase of Goods or Services
    • Example – software, independent contractor services, subscriptions, supply orders, hospitality expenses, etc.
  • Travel
    • Example – travel requests (trip plan) or travel expense report (trip costs)
  • ProCard Transactions
    • Example – goods or services that are compliant with the Procurement Credit Card Procedures. Generally low dollar, high volume activity.
  • Other
    • Example - Charge Authorization Forms (CAF) for campus service requests, journal entry requests to Financial Accounting and Reporting
• Who are the Delegated Approvers in my area?
  • Please refer to the Delegation of Fiscal Authority Cognos reports to review designated approvers for your area, by deptid. When in Cognos, select Team Content menu, then financial reports. Please note, that in CSU Buy and Concur you can look at the transaction workflow and identify with whom a transaction lies. However, we encourage you to review these Cognos reports routinely so that your approver pool is accurate so that transactions flow correctly in related party systems.
• How do I request and update of Delegated Approvers for my area?
  • If your area has encountered personnel changes that warrant an add/update to your Delegated Approver’s please use the FAR – Delegation of Fiscal Authority form in OnBase to request the change.